Probes from Khan al-Assal show chemicals used in the March 19 attack did not belong to standard Syrian army ammunition, and that the shell carrying the substance was similar to those made by a rebel fighter group, the Russian Foreign Ministry stated.

A statement released by the ministry on Wednesday particularly drew attention to the massive stove-piping of various information aimed at placing the responsibility for the alleged chemical weapons use in Syria on Damascus, even though the results of the UN investigation have not yet been revealed. ...

According to the article: UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday said the UN investigators are set to return to Syria to investigate several other cases of alleged chemical weapons use, including the March 19 incident in Khan al-Assal.

“So lets see...we gave WMD to Saddam to war against Iran...Saddam gave WMD to Syria...now were going into Syria to get back our WMD.”

No, the US did not arm Iraq. The equipment Iraq used was either Russian or French. The US did arm Iran until the Shah was unseated after that the US did not sell weapons to Iran either. The truth is other than a few fighter planes and (I think) M-48 tanks obtained before the Shah was ousted the US did not arm either Iraq or Iran in the their war with each other.

Any WMD they had they made themselves or bought from France, China, North Korea or Russia not the US. The charge that US armed Iraq or Iran while often repeated is a cynical lie put out by the hard left.

??? Proof of *that* assertion? The *only* thing that was given to Saddam Hussein's Iraq by the US Government, to assist him in his fight with Iran, was some satellite imagery.

*We* never gave him any chemical, or biological weaponry, and anyone who asserts that we did is talking out their blowhole. We don't even have, to my best knowledge, a chemical, or biological offensive weapons program, as we don't need one, having nuclear capabilities...

The hype around the alleged attack on the eastern Damascus suburb of Ghouta showed apparent attempts to cast a veil over the incidents of gas poisoning of Syrian army soldiers on August 22, 24 and 25, the ministry said, adding that all the respective evidence was handed to the UN by Syria.

The condition of the soldiers who, according to Damascus, suffered poisoning after discovering tanks with traces of sarin, has been examined and documented by the UN inspectors, the ministry pointed out, adding that any objective investigation of the August 21 incident in eastern Ghouta is impossible without the consideration of all these facts.

The money saved - if any - would be spent on other things. The deficit would not come down, instead, spending would be redirected to more boondoggles and bribes to favored groups from our increasingly fascistic government.

The website where this is posted is a bit sketchy, but it's a "reprint" of a Washington Post article from 2002. A few more interesting excerpts:

According to a sworn court affidavit prepared by [Howard Teicher, a former National Security Council official, who worked on Iraqi policy during the Reagan administration] in 1995, the United States "actively supported the Iraqi war effort by supplying the Iraqis with billions of dollars of credits, by providing military intelligence and advice to the Iraqis, and by closely monitoring third country arms sales to Iraq to make sure Iraq had the military weaponry required." Teicher said in the affidavit that former CIA director William Casey used a Chilean company, Cardoen, to supply Iraq with cluster bombs that could be used to disrupt the Iranian human wave attacks. Teicher refuses to discuss the affidavit.

When United Nations weapons inspectors were allowed into Iraq after the 1991 Gulf War, they compiled long lists of chemicals, missile components, and computers from American suppliers, including such household names as Union Carbide and Honeywell, which were being used for military purposes.

A 1994 investigation by the Senate Banking Committee turned up dozens of biological agents shipped to Iraq during the mid-'80s under license from the Commerce Department, including various strains of anthrax, subsequently identified by the Pentagon as a key component of the Iraqi biological warfare program. The Commerce Department also approved the export of insecticides to Iraq, despite widespread suspicions that they were being used for chemical warfare.

I also remember watching a video of an instructor telling soldiers what to expect when they entered Iraq during the first Iraq war. He was showing them specific US weapons, identifying them as being sold to Iraq during the war with Iran.

We (or at least the US administration) screwed up by supporting Saddam. Rather than trying to admit it, or explain it away, we should be learning from it and stop supporting the "enemy of my enemy". A large part of our problem in the Middle East is because we have been siding with dictators when it was politically convenient.

The Middle East is never going to "like" us, due to our support of Israel. But, I'm fine with that, as long as they "respect" us. Unfortunately, the vacillating support of tinpot regimes by successive US administrations has undermined that.

A 1994 investigation by the Senate Banking Committee turned up dozens of biological agents shipped to Iraq during the mid-'80s under license from the Commerce Department, including various strains of anthrax, subsequently identified by the Pentagon as a key component of the Iraqi biological warfare program. The Commerce Department also approved the export of insecticides to Iraq, despite widespread suspicions that they were being used for chemical warfare.

And folks, that right there is exactly how we knew Sadaam Hussein had "weapons of mass destruction". No further evidence needed.

Yeah, I suppose it would all be eaten up by Our Leader’s next vacation expenses. Which should be coming up shortly, after he makes a couple more speeches that all the country’s problems are do to the Republicans not doing anything to support his jobs bill.

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